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FOREIGN POLICY JOURNAL: SINCE DECLARING INDEPENDENCE IN 1991 ARTSAKH HAS ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS A FREE AND DEMOCRATIC STATE
Panorama
Oct 27 2011
Armenia
"The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has never been a territorial dispute
between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as Baku often tries to portray it
by abusing the text and interpretation of four relevant UN Security
Council resolutions of 1993. In reality, a legal essence of the
confrontation lays in the internationally recognized fundamental
principle of equality of peoples and the right to freedom and
self-determination," says the American analytical online publication
Foreign Policy Journal in the article entitled "Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic: The First 20 Years of de-facto Independence."
According to the article, the peaceful appeal of Nagorno-Karabakh to
the Soviet Government on reunification with Armenia, and declaration
of independence in 1991 set the example of a people's attempt to enjoy
their right to self-determination, and to master their own destiny.
Azerbaijan responded with a large-scale military aggression against the
people of Nagorno-Karabakh, with the support of Afghan mujahideens and
other forces linked to various international terrorist organizations,
which also fought against ethnic Armenians.
Ultimately, Baku and its certain supporters failed to conquer Artsakh,
and had to ask for a cease-fire, which was co-signed by Azerbaijan,
Armenia and NKR in May, 1994. Later, the co-chairs to the OSCE
Minsk Group repeatedly evidenced the violation of the cease-fire by
Azerbaijan, it noted in the publication of Foreign Policy Journal. For
instance, Russia's envoy to the Group from 1992 to 1996, Vladimir
Kazimirov has many times stated that revanchist Azerbaijan had always
been responsible for violating the UN resolutions and undermining
international peacemaking efforts.
The bottom-line is, writes the Foreign Policy Journal, that the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic's independence has nothing to do with
the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan - the legal predecessor
of the only independent Azerbaijani Republic of 1918-1920, which
never included Nagorno Karabakh. "For those who reject to accept
the regional realities and existence of the sovereign Artsakh, the
international community has repeatedly reaffirmed its vision of the
Karabakh settlement, which has to be based on the three main and equal
principles of the international law: right for self-determination of
peoples, territorial integrity of states, and non use and non threat
of use of force," says the publication.
However, Artsakh survived and since declaring independence in 1991,
the NKR has established itself as a free and democratic state with
effective democratic governance, active civil society and developing
market economy, it is noted in the article. "Thus, during the last
decade, Artsakh, being deprived of international financial assistance
except for the annual humanitarian assistance by U.S. Congress, proved
to be able to restore from ruins its economy and infrastructure,"
says the Foreign Policy Journal at the end, adding that deepening of
the democratic values remains the essential task for the republic's
authorities, which were elected through a voting monitored and assessed
by international observers as free, democratic and transparent.
From: A. Papazian
Panorama
Oct 27 2011
Armenia
"The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has never been a territorial dispute
between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as Baku often tries to portray it
by abusing the text and interpretation of four relevant UN Security
Council resolutions of 1993. In reality, a legal essence of the
confrontation lays in the internationally recognized fundamental
principle of equality of peoples and the right to freedom and
self-determination," says the American analytical online publication
Foreign Policy Journal in the article entitled "Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic: The First 20 Years of de-facto Independence."
According to the article, the peaceful appeal of Nagorno-Karabakh to
the Soviet Government on reunification with Armenia, and declaration
of independence in 1991 set the example of a people's attempt to enjoy
their right to self-determination, and to master their own destiny.
Azerbaijan responded with a large-scale military aggression against the
people of Nagorno-Karabakh, with the support of Afghan mujahideens and
other forces linked to various international terrorist organizations,
which also fought against ethnic Armenians.
Ultimately, Baku and its certain supporters failed to conquer Artsakh,
and had to ask for a cease-fire, which was co-signed by Azerbaijan,
Armenia and NKR in May, 1994. Later, the co-chairs to the OSCE
Minsk Group repeatedly evidenced the violation of the cease-fire by
Azerbaijan, it noted in the publication of Foreign Policy Journal. For
instance, Russia's envoy to the Group from 1992 to 1996, Vladimir
Kazimirov has many times stated that revanchist Azerbaijan had always
been responsible for violating the UN resolutions and undermining
international peacemaking efforts.
The bottom-line is, writes the Foreign Policy Journal, that the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic's independence has nothing to do with
the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan - the legal predecessor
of the only independent Azerbaijani Republic of 1918-1920, which
never included Nagorno Karabakh. "For those who reject to accept
the regional realities and existence of the sovereign Artsakh, the
international community has repeatedly reaffirmed its vision of the
Karabakh settlement, which has to be based on the three main and equal
principles of the international law: right for self-determination of
peoples, territorial integrity of states, and non use and non threat
of use of force," says the publication.
However, Artsakh survived and since declaring independence in 1991,
the NKR has established itself as a free and democratic state with
effective democratic governance, active civil society and developing
market economy, it is noted in the article. "Thus, during the last
decade, Artsakh, being deprived of international financial assistance
except for the annual humanitarian assistance by U.S. Congress, proved
to be able to restore from ruins its economy and infrastructure,"
says the Foreign Policy Journal at the end, adding that deepening of
the democratic values remains the essential task for the republic's
authorities, which were elected through a voting monitored and assessed
by international observers as free, democratic and transparent.
From: A. Papazian